


Heart Of A Vampire

by MikomiShine



Series: Misfortune Seeks [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, F/M, Happy Halloween!, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Abuse, Vampires, at least to me it is, but still, but this sets up the rest of the series, i tried to make it less cheesy, kinda cheesy i guess, this isn't really a halloween story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27303511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikomiShine/pseuds/MikomiShine
Summary: Chris and Kanon awaken, and now need to figure out how to deal with their new lives as vampires. The two talk to Kazuhiko, and make some unexpected decisions.
Relationships: Kanon/chris, OC/OC
Series: Misfortune Seeks [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1505735





	Heart Of A Vampire

Chris snapped open his eyes. The boy sat up and looked around, realizing he was put to bed in the blue and black guest room. Chris slowly got up, anxious thoughts clouding his mind as he made his way to the door.

“Where’s Kanon? Is she alright? Is...Is she…?” Chris gulped. “Is she a vampire? A - am _I_ a vampire?” The boy looked at his shivering hands. They were pale. He felt the inside of his mouth. He had fangs.

Chris shuddered.

It was all too surreal.

“This…” Chris sighed heavily. “This is gonna be a long day…”

Chris made his way out of the guest room. As he walked around the mansion, the teen started to smell something delicious. Tentative yet curious, he searched for where the smell was coming from. He ended up back inside the kitchen. He stood in the doorway, relief and confusion flooding his chest.

There stood his girlfriend, back towards him while she was...cooking.

....Why on earth was she _cooking_?!

“...Kanon?” The girl swiveled around. Chris noticed her pale, almost white skin immediately.

“Chris! Y - you’re awake!” The brunette ran to her boyfriend, hugging him tightly. She sobbed. “I - I was so scared! I thought you wouldn’t wake up!” 

“I - whuh - why.” Chris’ voice wavered. “Why wouldn’t I wake up?”

“I - I don’t know." Kanon wiped her eyes, sniffing. "I guess I was just being paranoid…” Chris sighed, rubbing the back of Kanon’s head.

“Well, I’m awake. I’m fine.”

“...Are you?”

“I - ” Chris swallowed thickly. “I - I...I’m...Nmnhh…”

Kanon touched a hand to his face.

“Chris. I’ve been up for a few hours now, and I think I’m starting to come to terms with our...our situation.” She blew out a harsh breath, and cast her gaze downward. “It. It’s going to be hard, I think. Fully adjusting to this.” Kanon looked back up at Chris, meeting his eyes. “But…”

“But…?”

“But we’ll get through this.”

Chris pressed his forehead to his partner's, closing his eyes to ward off the tears. He didn’t want to cry. He wouldn’t cry.

He wouldn’t give the demon that hurt them such satisfaction.

Suddenly, a loud banging noise sounded, causing the couple to break away from each other. They turned to see Shift floating in the doorway. It held up a sign that said “R U DONE W/ BREAKFAST?” Kanon blinked.

“No, not yet, I - oh goodness, _the food’s gonna burn_.”

As Kanon checked on the nearly ruined meal, Chris decided to ask the strange creature a few questions.

“You.” Shift turned to him. “Why aren’t our shadows alive?” Shift took out a notebook and pencil, and wrote something down. It showed Chris the message.

“A WITCH CAST A SEPARATION SPELL ON KAZU AND I.” 

“Um.” Chris blinked at the existence of witches. He hoped he and Kanon didn’t have to deal with any. “Why, uh. Why did a witch do that?” Shift stared at Chris for a moment before shrugging. “Okay, um...Where’s Kazuhiko?”

“KAZU IS SLEEPING.”

“.....Oh.” Shift stared at Chris some more. The thing’s gaze made him shift his feet. “Mm - do you need something?”

“DO YOU?”

“Wh - what…?”

“DO YOU HAVE ANYMORE QUESTIONS?”

“Nn...No, not for now…” Shift nodded, and glided out of the room. Chris made his way over to Kanon. 

“.....”

“Chris...?” Chris realised he was staring.

“Oh, uh. Why. Are you making breakfast?”

“Shift told me to.”

“...And you just. Listened?”

“....It said that, um. It said it didn’t want me to think too much about everything, and that it could give me a distraction. I was hesitant, but I took its offer.” The two stood in silence for a moment. “Did you notice it writes in all caps?”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“...It’s kinda cute…”

Chris gave his girlfriend a look of bewilderment.

“ _Cute_ ? Did you somehow forget what that thing did? It was _helping_ that monster!” Kanon sighed.

“I didn’t forget, Chris. Just…” Kanon sighed again, looking at Chris warily. “Are you going to keep calling... _him_...a monster?”

Chris blinked.

“Why not?”

“....Is that what we are now?”

Chris froze.

“I - I...No, I…”

Chris shook.

“I - I don’t want to talk about this…”

“...Chris. We probably _should_.”

“...Alright. Alright, then. What now?”

“Huh?”

“We’re... we’re _vampires_ now. A - almost can’t believe it, hah. Like yesterday was just...Some horrible nightmare…” Chris clenched his hand to keep it from shaking more. “So now what?”

“I don’t know...I guess we have to suck people’s - “

“D - don’t! Don’t say it. I - I don’t want to think about that.” Chris grimaced, shaking his head.

“S - sorry…”

Before either of the two could say anything else, Kazuhiko walked into the kitchen.

“...........Oh.”

They all stared at each other.

Kazuhiko was the first to break the silence.

“Uh. H - hello...Morning. I. Didn’t expect you two to still be here…”

“...Huh?” Chris asked dumbly.

“I thought the two of you would’ve hightailed it out of here once you both woke.” Kanon flapped her mouth for a moment before she could get herself to speak.

“.......The doors. Are locked.” 

“Shift locked the doors when you came inside. After the two of you fell asleep - “

“You mean _fainted_.” Chris interrupted through grit teeth.

“....Fell. Asleep.” Kazuhiko countered, his eyes closed as he grimaced. It seemed he was in denial of the truth. “After you two fell asleep, Shift unlocked the doors.” 

The teens stood there a moment.

“So what you’re telling me is,” Chris inhaled, turning to his girlfriend with his hands together. He pointed two fingers at her before continuing. “You didn’t check the doors.”

“I…..They were _locked_ .” Kanon sputtered in confusion. “They were locked last night! I - I didn’t….I didn’t expect you to just - to just _let us go_.”

Kazuhiko stared at Kanon, perplexed by such a notion. 

“Why. Why would I have not let you leave. Why would I keep you here?”

“....Oh, I get it.” Chris stepped forward, an angry glint in his eye. 

“H - huh?”

“You’re done with us. You used us, and don’t need us anymore. So you’re having us leave. Is that it? Don’t want to take responsibility for what you’ve done to us.”

“I - uh - whuh, n - no, that’s not - “ The adult shook his head. Before he could get his thoughts together, Shift flew into the kitchen again. 

“GOOD MORNING KAZU.”

“Oh! G - good morning, Shift. Um. How was your night? I see you’ve already made breakfast.” Shift quickly shook its head. “Huh? What is it?” Shift wrote down a new message.

“KANON MADE BREAKFAST.”

“............”

Kazuhiko stared at Shift for the longest time.

“I’m. I’m sorry. You made her make breakfast. What.”

“I DIDN’T FORCE HER. IT WAS OPTIONAL.”

“But why - why would you - hey, don’t try to write while I’m speaking to you, _listen_ \- “

Shift quickly held up a new page of its notebook. Kazuhiko pinched his nose in exasperation.

“Hrrngh….” 

“SHE WAS HAVING A ROUGH TIME COPING SO I GAVE HER A DISTRACTION.”

“So she was having trouble dealing with yesterday’s…. _events_ and you made her stay and cook.”

“I, uh. Didn’t really mind it.” Kanon spoke, fidgeting a bit with the hem of her dress. “I like to cook, so it helped me take my mind off of things.”

“....Right.” The man glanced at the teenage girl, sighing. “Alright then. Since you made the food, you two can sit here and eat. You can leave whenever you want afterwards. I…” He looked away. “I will be in the living room.” Kazuhiko turned to leave. Shift grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Hm? What is it, Shift ?” The shadow gestured toward the dining room. “...You want me to _sit_ with them.” The being nodded. “Shift, I am quite certain that they will not want that.”

“....Actually. I need you to answer some questions.” Chris stated. “So you might as well stay.”

“Um.” Kazuhiko was put off guard for a moment. “I - alright....” He sighed. “In any case, Shift, if part of your reasoning behind having Kanon cook was because you were tired of it, then maybe _I_ should take up the task.” Shift made a choking gesture, leading Kazuhiko to frown. “My cooking isn’t _that_ bad…” The creature dropped to the floor, pretending to be dead. Kazuhiko rolled his eyes at his shadow’s antics. “Yes, alright, I see what your opinion on my cooking is, thank you for letting me know.”

The teenagers watched the exchange with interest and curiosity. They glanced at each other, both figuring it wasn’t the time for such hilarity. Chris gave Kazuhiko an unimpressed glare.

“Uh - um. Why don’t we. Head to the dining room. We’ll give you two some space for now…”

With that, the vampire and his shadow left.

.

.

.

“I’m done,” Kanon announced after some time had passed.

“Alright. I’ll help you bring the food to the table.”

The teenagers turned, both jumping back a bit when they saw Shift peering over the wall. 

“Um.” Chris blinked. “Weren’t you supposed to be with the demon?” The being shrugged. It then waved its hand, causing the food dishes to rise. 

“Oh, uh. Thanks, Shift.” Kanon acknowledged, blinking a few times. “You didn’t need to do that…” Shift shook its head as if to say it wasn’t a problem. It then carried the food to the dining room. The couple followed the way.

When they entered the room, Kazuhiko was spinning a fork on the table out of boredom. He looked up when he noticed the others. 

“Oh! Um. Don’t mind me, just...Mm. Food ready?” Kanon nodded as Shift set everything down. “A - alright, then. Sit down and eat.” The teens did just that, taking their desired amount of food and beginning to eat quietly. 

Kanon stared at the older vampire before turning to Chris and whispering to him.

“Do you think he’s hungry?”

“Why? Does it matter?” 

“This is his home, and we’re eating his food. We should offer him some.” Chris sighed, glancing over at the man sitting across from him. He seemed to be trying his best to ignore them. But his girlfriend _did_ kinda have a point. 

“....Hey.”

Kazuhiko looked up.

Chris gestured to the food.

“You gonna eat, or is that not a vampire thing.”

The man blinked.

“I. Oh. Um. Vampires _can_ eat, although we don’t need to. It’s more of a delicacy than anything.”

“Still,” Kanon started. “This is your food we’re eating. I don’t think it’s right that we’re just taking it and not feeding you, too.”

Kazuhiko stayed silent for a moment.

“.....I think you have a right to that, honestly. After what...After...Yesterday…” Chris sighed.

“Just eat. I just noticed how skinny you are. I doubt it’s healthy for any creature to be that thin.” Kazuhiko frowned, looking down at himself. He too let out a sigh before helping himself to the home-cooked meal.

He took a bite.

Paused.

Then started shoveling the food into his mouth.

Chris raised his eyebrows.

“Woah. Are you _sure_ you don’t need to eat? Cause you’re acting like you’re _starving_.”

“N - no, no.” Kazuhiko paused, swallowing. “It’s just that this is absolutely delicious. Shift, try this.” The ponytailed man held out his fork, and the shadow opened its mouth to taste the food. It then stared at Kanon in surprise, looking impressed.

Chris had his own look of astonishment, but for a completely different reason.

“That thing has a mouth?”

Shift huffed, crossing its arms. Kazuhiko lifted a brow.

“Yes?”

“So...can it _talk_?”

“Gjfjkfjkjkjk.”

“......I’m sorry, _what_ did it just say.”

“Shift speaks,” Kazuhiko explained. “But in its own language.”

“Can...Can you understand it...?”

“Yes, of course. It is my shadow, after all.”

“So why didn’t it speak earlier?”

“Shift is fond of writing things down.” 

A silence passed. The four continued to eat.

After some time, Chris set his fork down.

“Kazuhiko.”

“Yes?” 

“I need to ask you something.” Chris met the other’s eyes with a steely gaze. Kazuhiko set his fork down as well, folding his hands in front of his face. He inhaled and exhaled slowly.

“....What is your question?”

“...Now that...Now that Kanon and I are…” Chris rubbed his hands along his face, his frustration getting to him. “Now that we’re…... _vampires_.” The teen finally spat. Kazuhiko didn’t flinch. “Are...Are we going to have to - to…”

Kanon set a hand on Chris’ shoulder.

He sighed.

He couldn’t bring the question to light.

Kanon asked for both of them.

“Do we have to drink blood?”

Chris shivered. Kazuhiko glanced his way but didn’t acknowledge him further.

“...I’m afraid so.” The two hung their heads. “But. That doesn’t mean human blood. You could drink animal blood if that is what you’d rather do.” Kanon made a face.

“I don’t like either option. But...I guess that’s... _slightly_ better…”

“...What if we don’t drink blood?”

The adult turned to the bluehead.

“If you don’t drink blood at all, you will die.”

Another silence fell between them.

“.....Why.”

“Wh - why would you die if you don’t drink blood?” Kazuhiko rubbed the back of his neck. “I. I don’t know. I can’t answer that…”

“Not what I meant.” Chris shook his head. “If you could just drink animal blood, why didn’t you just bite some animals? Why - why do you drink human blood?”

‘Why did you bite _us_?’ Chris’s thoughts screamed. He bit the question down.

“I would stop sucking human blood if I could, but things aren’t that simple. I became addicted.” The teenagers stared at him, horrified. He looked away. “Alright.” The man stood. “If you don’t have anything else to ask, you may take your leave.” The couple looked at each other, then back to the man before them. “What is it? Do you have more questions?” 

“What are we supposed to do?” The purple-haired man looked at Kanon, tilting his head to the side.

“What do you mean?”

“We can’t go home,” The brunette answered.

“Ah. Yes, that would be a problem. It is likely they wouldn’t accept your, ah...new forms.” 

“...It could be worse than that…”

“Huh?”

“It could be _worse_ than that!” Chris shouted, standing and shoving his chair back. “If we go home, we could be tempted to bite our family members! Or we could be found out, caught, and taken to prison or - or _who knows where_!” 

Kanon looked down, gripping her dress tightly. She was shaking slightly.

Kazuhiko looked away again.

“....I don’t know what to tell you. I guess - ”

“You guess _what_.” Chris seethed, glaring hard at the older vampire. 

“...I could...wait for the one other vampire I know. He knows of a place where other vampires reside. But. Getting that information may take a while. I don’t exactly know where he is. But I _do_ know he will be coming back.” Chris scoffed.

“And you know that how?”

“What?”

“How do you know your friend is gonna come back?” Kazuhiko blinked.

“He. He’s left and came back before. I. I don’t know what you’re getting at.”

“Well, how do we know we can trust him?”

“Chris…”

“Hm?” The boy turned to his girlfriend, gaze softening as he laid his eyes on h. He noticed how tense she was, setting a hand on her shoulder. “What is it?”

“What if what Kazuhiko says is true? What if there is a place we could go to? I - I mean, I’m not too keen on the idea of living with other vampires, but do we have a choice?”

“I’m not lying. There is a place where vampires are living, hidden away from human eyes.

“Well if that’s true," The girl questioned, finally looking up to glare at the man. "Why don’t _you_ live there? Why don’t you know where it is?”

“I…” Kazuhiko started. “I’ve never left this place. This mansion...I’ve been here my whole life.” He lowered his eyes. “It just wouldn’t feel right, leaving.” The man sighed. “But believe me when I say that my friend knows where this vampire community is.” Chris scowled.

“You want us to believe you. To trust you. When _you’re_ the one who ruined our lives!” Chris stepped forward. “ _You_ did this to us. You’ve made it impossible to go back to our homes, our families, our friends, our _lives_ !” Chris grabbed a fistful of Kazuhiko’s shirt. The adult’s eyes grew, and he tried to step back. “ _You RUINED us_!”

Chris threw a punch at the older one’s face. 

It landed with a sickening sound.

Chris let go, startled.

Kazuhiko fell to the floor.

Shift and Kanon stared in horror.

“Whuh...wh - what - is he okay?!” Kanon sputtered. “What just happened? Did you knock him out?!”

“I - I think so.” Chris blinked multiple times, trying to both calm himself and figure out how he managed to do what he had done.

Shift was currently hovering over the purple-haired man, worried sounds emitting from its throat. Kazuhiko’s eyes slowly blinked open, and he glanced at Chris from his position on the floor.

“........”

The room was tense.

Kazuhiko brought a hand to his nose.

“...I…” He squeaked, raising himself on his elbow. “...I think...You broke my nose….”

“H - how...how on earth...I…” Chris shook his head. “I have _never_ thrown a punch hard enough to actually hurt someone that bad.” 

“...Never.”

“ _Never_.”

“You. You must have gained Vampire’s Strength…”

“...What.”

“Vampire’s Strength,” Kazuhiko repeated as he gingerly rubbed at his nose. He winced. “One of the many abilities that a vampire has.”

“What, like, _supernatural_ abilities?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Shift held out a hand, and the vampire grasped it, letting his shadow pull him up. Kazuhiko turned to the teenagers, lowering his hand. 

“I’m sorry.”

The teens' eyes widened.

“I am truly very sorry for what I’ve done to you both. If I didn’t need human blood, this wouldn’t have happened.” The adult sighed. 

There was another stretch of silence.

“Kazuhiko, I know this has nothing to do with the current conversation…” Kanon began. “But. How old are you?”

“...Wha?”

“Kanon, why are you asking him his age?”

“Well, he’s an adult, but since he’s a vampire, shouldn’t he look much younger? Or maybe I'm getting it confused. Maybe he’s older than he looks?”

“Oh…” Kazuhiko grimaced. “You two haven’t caught on…”

“Huh?” Kanon tilted her head in confusion. Chris narrowed his eyes.

“Haven't caught on to what?”

Kazuhiko sighed.

“I wasn’t always a vampire.”

“Wh - wait. You were human?! Y - you mean you - ?”

“Not…” The man interrupted. “Not exactly…”

Chris paused.

“What does that mean?”

“I was half-human.”

“Half-human?” The couple questioned simultaneously. Kazuhiko nodded.

“Half-human, half-vampire.”

“But, wait…” The brunette began, starting to piece things together. “If you were only half human - no. Something must’ve happened. Something other than - ”

“There is only one way to become a full vampire. I was bitten.”

Chris, who had already figured this out, growled once the truth was confirmed.

“You yourself have been bitten, and you decided to put others through that pain?!” Kazuhiko stepped back.

“Y - you don’t understand - ”

“Oh yeah, sure, go bite people just cause you feel like it! ‘Cause you were curious, perhaps? Or what, was it because you wanted others to know what it’s like? Cause if so, congratulations!”

“I never wanted this! I - I didn’t _want_ to hurt people - !”

“Then _w_ _hy_?! Why’d you start in the first place? What kind of messed up motivation could you possibly have had - !” 

“I didn’t have a choice! I was _forced_ to drink blood !!!” 

Kazuhiko’s booming voice was followed by a deafening, shock filled silence.

“I - I never wanted - mother, she - I - and, and - ugh!” Kazuhiko took a huge breath. 

“My mother was a vampire.” He started pacing. “My father, I don’t remember him much, but he was human. When I was five years old, my father died, leaving my mother with my baby sister and I. I never found out what happened to him, but my father’s death changed my mother. She started to become...cruel. And when I was ten - ” The man stopped short, covering his mouth. He closed his eyes for a moment and started his sentence again. “When I was ten years old, my mother - !” Kazuhiko began to shake. “Wh - when...when I was ten, my baby sister and I..we - we were...we…” Kazuhiko choked down a sob, covering his face. 

He took a breathy sigh.

He couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t speak about what happened.

“......Kazuhiko.”

The man slowly looked up, staring at Chris with watery eyes.

“You don’t have to say anymore. I think I know what you’re trying to say.” Chris sighed. “She bit you. You’re mother bit both you and your sister.” 

The older vampire shook before sinking to the ground with a sob. Shift embraced him, letting out a painful wail. 

“She...She...My - my sister, Sasha……..Hhh…..She - she was so young! She couldn’t take the pain, and it killed her. She _killed_ her!” 

“...Kazuhiko…”

“At - at first, I just drank animal blood, but - but then my mother threatened me, saying that she’d kill me if I didn’t start sucking human blood…”

“Why...Why would she do that…?” Kanon, too, was shaking, tears springing to her eyes. 

“She...She didn’t like having half children. We were useless to her. We didn’t have fangs, or wings, or any vampire abilities w - wait, no, Sasha had wings, but she couldn’t fly, s - so she thought us useless, so she bit us, and forced me to drink human blood, and I didn’t want to, I really didn’t want, but I had no choice! N - now I’m addicted….”

“Kazuhiko, stop.” Chris shook his head, stepping forward. He knelt down in front of the distressed man. “We get it. We get it, alright? It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t want that. I...I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I said earlier.”

“It….It’s alright. Y - you didn’t know. Besides, you were angry. Y - you had every right to be. You still have every right to be angry.” The purple-haired man wiped what he could of the remaining tears from his face. “I….I’m surprised I told you all of that...It took so long for me to open up to my friend about it…”

“You probably held it in for too long. Probably needed to vent.”

“Y - yeah, I guess you’re right Kanon. I - I’m sorry for dumping all of that onto you.”

“It’s fine, just…” Chris pointed at the shadow, who was sprawled out on the floor. “It’s still screaming.”

Kazuhiko stared at his shadow as it continued to screech. He sighed, standing up and dusting off his pants. 

“That’s just Shift being Shift. It hates hearing me talk about my past. What mother did...It remembers all of it. It knows the pain as well as I do.” Suddenly, Shift rushed over to Kazuhiko, crushing him in a hug. “...And now it's just gonna stick to me no matter what I do.” Kazuhiko tried to push the shadow off of his body, but it wouldn’t budge. “Help me get it off…”

Chris raised an eyebrow, grabbing Shift where he thought its waist was and pulling. The shadow came flying off of the demon’s body as both vampires were thrown backwards. 

“...Huh.” Chris muttered from the floor. Kanon stood over him. “Guess I really _do_ have Vampire Strength…”

“Hmph.” Kazuhiko stood, brushing himself off once more. “Lucky you.”

Shift, who had finally stopped crying, picked itself off of the floor and flew to Kazuhiko’s side.

“Hm. Is it possible that I could have some vampire powers as well?” Kanon asked.

“It is very much possible.”

“Hm…” Kanon attempted to pick up a chair, immediately toppling over. The others laughed.

“Guess you don’t have the strength of a vampire.”

“Well, it’s pretty cool that you have super strength now.”

“Hm~?” Chris grinned mischievously. “Does the girl _like_ my newfound strength? I think she does~!” Chris suddenly grabbed Kanon by the waist, dipping her down. 

“Chris!”

“What? Am I wrong?”

“W - well, no...” Kanon huffed, crossing her arms. "But you better let me go. You know I hate PDA."

"I know, I know." Chris let her go. The girl chuckled a bit, poking Chris' cheek.

"But I _do_ love when you get flirty~"

"Ah - " Chris blushed deeply, Shift bursting out in laughter. Kazuhiko shook his head. 

“Oh no. You two are total lovebirds. Is this what I’m dealing with now?”

“Afraid so.” Kanon smirked, giving Chris a flirty look. Chris looked away, his face heating up even more.

"K - Kanon - "

Shift laughed even harder, falling to the ground. Kazuhiko scoffed.

“Why do you always laugh when someone is embarrassed?”

“So the shadow can laugh.” Chris stated in amusement as he watched the being roll around the floor.

“Oh, yes. It can laugh. And it laughs at everyone’s misfortune.”

“Say, Kazuhiko.”

“Yes, Kanon?”

“Why do you call Shift an “it”? Do they not have a gender?” Shift sat up, looking at Kanon in surprise.

“Well, it never said anything about having a specific gender.” The purple-haired man turned to his shadow. “Do you have a gender?”

Shift nodded vigorously. Kazuhiko threw his hands up. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” The shadow answered in its natural tongue. “Oh. Fair enough.”

“What’d Shift say?”

“It wasn’t sure about it’s gender at first. And then it just never thought it important enough to mention.”

“So, ” Kanon asked. “What gender are you?”

Shift took out its notepad, writing down the answer.

“BOYYYYYYYYYY.”

“Yes, okay. A bit too many ‘y’s”.” Kazuhiko chuckled. “Alright, guess it’s time to switch pronouns.” Shift pumped his fist into the air.

“...Hey. Kazuhiko.”

“Yes, Kanon?”

“I know you said that your friend knows of a place with other vampires we could live...But. Where are we supposed to go for the time being?” The man’s face fell.

“I - ...I don’t know…”

“You don’t have any other friends that you could - ?”

“I don’t know, alright? I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. What Chris said earlier was right. I ruined your lives…” The older vampire took a shaky breath. “It’s just...remember what I said earlier? About being addicted to human blood? I can only go without it for a few months. I mean, I tried, alright? I tried to stop drinking human blood, but I - I _can’t_. If I don’t drink human blood at all, I - I go crazy.”

“Crazy?”

“Yes, Kanon. I become absolutely insane, v - very…. _unstable_." The ponytailed man turned his head. "Trust me, you don’t want to see that - no, actually, you already have. But what happened yesterday - that - that wasn’t even the worst it’s gotten…”

Shift tapped Kazuhiko’s shoulder, and spoke. Kazuhiko’s jaw dropped.

“You - you _can’t_ be serious! Whuh - why do you keep coming up with such outrageous ideas?!” The couple furrowed their eyebrows in confusion.

“What’s he saying?” Chris questioned. Kazuhiko turned to the blue-haired teen, sighing in frustration. 

“I - I don’t think you’d like his idea…”

“Why not?”

“W - well, it doesn’t even make sense. I mean, really, Shift. What made you think they’d even agree to something like that?” Shift argued in response. “What?! No - Of _course_ they wouldn’t - why would they even want to - es - especially after I - ! No, Shift, just no! I - I don’t…” The adult pinched his nose. “I don’t understand you sometimes…”

“Umm…” The purple-haired man turned to Kanon.

“Hm?”

“What is Shift saying?”

“Oh, um. Just this crazy idea that you - I mean, it’s really not the best idea, y - you wouldn’t care for it. It’s just that he thinks...He thinks you’d - you - you would...want...I mean, really, Shift, what made you think - !”

“Kazuhiko!” The man flinched at Chris’ voice, sighing in defeat. 

“.......Shift, um…..He uh, suggested that….Th - that you live _here_ ….”

“....Here?” Kanon echoed. Kazuhiko nodded.

“Y - yeah...Crazy, right? Why would you want to? I’m the one who did this to you, after all. I. I don’t see why...” His voice trailed off, and Shift held up his notebook.

“IF YOU TWO LIVE HERE, KAZU WILL NO LONGER BE LONELY. PLUS, KAZU CAN TEACH YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING A VAMPIRE.”

“Okay, _first of all_ , who told you to tell them that I’m lonely? Second, you know that I’m only lonely because of _him_ not being here. I’d be just fine if he came back much sooner! A - and third of all, I am _not_ teaching these two anything about being a vampire!”

“Why not? Don’t you know everything?”

“No, Chris, I don’t know everything about vampires. And besides, that’s not even the point. I just - I don’t want to teach you any bad stuff. I. I don’t want to teach you the same things my mother taught me.” The human-turned-vampires let this sink in.

“...Then don’t?”

“Kanon, it’s - it’s not that simple! Most of everything I know about vampires, I learned from her. So I’ll just end up teaching you horrible things.”

“You have a conscience, don’t you?” 

“...Yes?”

“Then just figure out which of what you learned was bad and what was good, then tell us all of the good.”

Kazuhiko stared at Chris a moment, before throwing up his hands.

“Alright. Fine. I _suppose_ that works. Just. If you end up learning bad things because of me, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Kazuhiko rubbed at his face, wincing as his fingers brushed along his nose. That would have to be taken care of…

“That being said…” The older vampire glanced over at the younger ones. “Would you actually want to live here? Even if it’s just until my friend returns?” The couple looked at each other before turning back to Kazuhiko.

“We don’t have anywhere to go…” Kanon answered.

“And we don’t know anything about being vampires,” Chris added. “So what choice do we have?”

“It’s your decision.”

“Well…” Kanon mused. “You do seem to be in need of some company.”

“You don’t wanna be alone for however long it’ll take your friend to come back, do you?”

“S - so you’re saying - ?”

“Seems like we’re staying. Right, Kanon?”

“Seems like it.”

Kazuhiko stared at the two in shock.

“Oh, but you know…” Chris started. “It’ll probably take me a while to get over everything. So. Sorry if I end up holding a grudge.” The blue-haired teen smirked, a strange glint in his eye. Kanon nodded in agreement. Kazuhiko was left to sigh once more.

“Yes, that is to be expected. I can’t just expect us to get along after yesterday. Take as long as you need to come to terms with everything.”

“But even with this grudge…”

“Huh?”

Chris stepped up.

“We might as well hold some kind of truce, yeah? No hurting each other after today.” 

Chris held out a hand.

Kazuhiko stared at it.

“Well? What are you waiting for?”

The man smiled, shaking Chris’ hand with renewed vigor.

Shift whooped in triumph, diving forward to muss up Chris and Kanon’s hair.

Kazuhiko chuckled, his darkened heart starting to shine.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween ya'll! Decided to post this today as the first part of this series was originally written as a Halloween oneshot.


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